Rowers falter in semi-final heats

ETON-DORNEY - For the Canadian men's four and women's lightweight double, the emotions were real and more than a little sad at Lake Dorney.

Then again, so were the results.

The two crews, who came into the Olympic regatta with legitimate medal aspirations, both failed to make the finals in their events on Thursday, casting a pall over the Canadian team's effort at the Eton College rowing basin.

True, the women's eight finished second Thursday and the men's eight won a silver medal on Wednesday. But the only other Canadian boat to qualify for a final is the men's heavyweight pair of Scott Frandsen and Dave Calder, who row for a medal on Friday.

And that wasn't the expectation heading into the Olympics.

"It's the worst feeling in the entire world," said Derek O'Farrell, the leader of the men's four, his voice breaking. "I imagine it's the same feeling as finding out a family member has been shot. We just trained so long and so hard for this."

He didn't finish his thought. But he wasn't the only one fighting to maintain his composure on Thursday.

"There's a lot of pain after the race physically and it takes a little while to set in," said Lindsay Jennerich of the women's double. "I'm talking about it now and realizing a lot of things. I said to [partner Patricia Obee], there's seven minutes of your life that suddenly takes you out of a shot at an Olympic medal."

Jennerich dissolved into tears at that point.

The four and the lightweight pair were presented with an opportunity to make a statement about the depth and quality of the national team at Lake Dorney. But in their semifinal, the four finished a distant fifth, more than seven seconds behind the winning American boat.

Shortly thereafter, Jennerich and Obee crossed fourth in their semfinal, almost two and a half second behind the Aussies who claimed the third, and final qualification spot for the final.

"With 500 [metres] to go I held off on our call because I knew once I did call it, we'd be sprinting from 400 out as opposed to 250," said Jennerich. "We were fourth at that point and you basically have to throw everything at it because there's nothing to lose. We did that. It wasn't enough."

The women's double was thought to have gold-medal potential but their preparation for the Olympics was less than ideal. Jennerich and Tracy Cameron, who'd won bronze in the lightweight boat in Beijing, won gold together at the world championships in 2010 and, after Cameron recovered from a rib injury, formed the boat for the World Cup races in Lucerne a couple of months ago.

But Cameron shocked Rowing Canada when she retired shortly after Lucerne. The 20-year-old Obee, who'd won silver with Jennerich at the 2011 worlds when Cameron was injured, filled her spot.

"It wasn't ideal but it's what you make of it," said Jennerich. "Given the circumstances, the situations weren't handled poorly. They were handled like champions. You can't say that every other crew had a perfect year."